PHILIPPINES — The Philippines President, Rodrigo Duterte, and the Việt Nam Embassy in the Philippines, on Wednesday, co-hosted a ceremony to send five Vietnamese fishermen back to the country.

At Sual Port in Pangasinan Province, the five fishermen were in a fishing boat, numbered PY 96173 TS, which was towed into international waters by the Philippines Marine Police, according to the newspaper Tuổi Trẻ (Youth)

Speaking at the event, Duterte said that the government and relevant authorities had completed all the procedures and supported the fishermen to go back, considering humanity values and friendship between the two countries.

Lý Quốc Tuấn, the Vietnamese Ambassador to the Philippines, expressed his appreciation towards Duterte and the Philippines government’s efforts to assist the Vietnamese fishermen.

Early last month, the bodies of two other dead fishermen of the PY-96173-TS fishing boat were transferred to Việt Nam.

According to the Việt Nam Embassy in Manila, the Philippines government said that Phú Yên-based fishing boat numbered PY 96173 TS was illegally operating in Pangasinan Province’s waters from September 22 to 23 and had attempted to attack the Philippines Marine Police’s PS19 ship after being chased.

The Philippines Marine Police shot the fishing boat when they were about to hit the force’s ship. — VNS